READING DISABILITIES, IDENTIFIED AND DEFINED ACROSS TIME (1896-1962)

Caroline Tritschler
Reading Disabilities, Identified and Defined Across Time (1896-1962)
University of Georgia, LLED 8340e, Dr. Jennifer Graff
July 31, 2014

READING DISABILITIES, IDENTIFIED AND DEFINED ACROSS TIME (1896-1962)

Reading Disabilities, Identified and Defined Across Time (1896-1962)

Please see the following timeline, which outlines important dates and events that show how reading disabilities have been
identified and defined across time, beginning in the late 1800s through the early 1960s. As I was doing my research, I realized that I
would further refine my research to these earlier years. I chose to outline the years up until the 1960s, because I concluded that a
separate timeline from the early 1960s to today would be necessary due to the plethora of research and policy affecting education of
students identified with reading disabilities in the past 50 years.

 After the frst reports of children with reading disabilities were

made in the early 1900s, several psychologists began to research
children with reading defciency around 1910. Then, public schools
began a new movement to help those children in school who were
having difculty learning to read (Smith, 2002, p. 179).

1910-1925
(General
Overview)
1896

The frst report of congenital alexia, entitled Congenital Word

Blindness by W. P. Morgan, appeared in the British Medical Journal.
Word Blindness was reported to be the cause of a childs
disability in reading, and it was the frst time an assignment was
made to a specifc cause for a disability in reading (Smith, 2002, p.
146-147). Morgan used the term congenital word blindness to
describe a 14-year old boy with average intellect who failed at
learning to read (Klenk &Kibby, 2000, p. 3).

1900-1910
(General
Overview)

During this entire decade, considerable interest developed in regard to

congenitalalexia or word blindness as the cause of retardation in
reading (Smith, 2002, p. 146). Early American investigators included E.B
McCready, C.J. Thomas, Sidney Stephenson, and E. Nettleship. This is the
frst time that medicine and education are partnered together in research.
These beginning studies were the frst time that attention was called to
children who were not learning to read and to the possibility of doing
something to help them in acquiring this skill (Smith, 2002, 147).

READING DISABILITIES, IDENTIFIED AND DEFINED ACROSS TIME (1896-1962)

 The term remedial reading was frst used by W.L. Uhl (Smith, 2002, p. 180). Before
the term "remedial reading", investigators used terms such as "inferiority in reading",
"reading disability", and "reading defciency" to describe children who were defcient in
reading. Causes of remedial reading included the follwing: inadequate mental ability,
heredity, condtiones related to cerebral balance, abnormal emotional tendencies, visual
and auditory defciences, and faulty reading habits (Smith, 2002, p. 240). Please note:
Since this term was coined, it was often used to describe those with reading disabilities.

1916

Hollingworth also points out in her studies that no one particular method of teaching
has been more successful in teaching remedial readers at this particular time (Gray,
1931, p. 259).

1910

Psychologist Augusta F. Bronner began experiments with defcient readers.

Bronner performed routine clinical work with frst-hand work with children and
adolescents and sought to understand them using scientifc tools (American
Psychological Assocation, 1939, p. 247). She later received her Ph.D. after
writing The Psychology of Special Abilities and Disabilities (American
Psychological Association, 1939, p. 248). Bronner opens the perspectives on
reading disabilities by expanding the study of each case having a wide range
of possibilities (Smith, 2002, p. 179).

1915

Psychologist Leta S. Hollingworth began studying reading disabilities. Her work began
with the research of gifted children, their identifcation, and the development of the
best practices for their needs (Jolly, 2007, p. 57).

READING DISABILITIES, IDENTIFIED AND DEFINED ACROSS TIME (1896-1962)

 First clinic for remedial instruction was

established at Univ. of California-. It
became The Clinic School (psychology)
with Grace M. Fernald (Smith, 2002, p.
181). Other clinics at universities did not
become numerous until the 1950s.
Because of standardized testing in public schools, ofcials became concerned about
reading disabilities in students. Reading improvement programs for retarded
readers were formed (Smith, 2002, p. 180). Diagnosis of reading disabilities during
this time involved the diagnosis of a case history (including home, medical, and
school); standardized reading tests; and observations of such motor factors as eye
movements, vocalization, extraneous bodily movements, and breathing (Smith,
2002, p. 181). Although there was much diagnosis at this time, remedial measures
lagged far behind diagnostic techniques Smith, 2002, p. 181). Three diferent
remedial measures were taken: workers in the medical feld used the alphabetspelling method with children called dyslexiacs; psychologists used special devices
in phonics, others experimented with the kinesthetic method; educators in the
classroom used procedures to improve oral reading, silent reading, word recognition,
and rate. Also, emphasis was placed on methods designed to remedy such motor
aspects of reading as inadequate eye movement, extraneous bodily movements,
vocalization, and improper breathing (Smith, 2002, p. 181).

The frst masters thesis on the subject of remedial

reading was published by Katherine McLaughlin
(Univ. of Chicago). While other dissertations had
already been published, this master's shows the
emerging movement in remedial reading at this
time (Smith, 2002, p. 180).

1921
1920-1924
(General
Overview)
August,
1917

READING DISABILITIES, IDENTIFIED AND DEFINED ACROSS TIME (1896-1962)

 As research grew throughout this period, remedial reading became the number
one subject of study during this time. The following causes of reading disability
were discussed by researchers during this time: inadequate mental ability,
heredity, conditions related to cerebral balance, abnormal emotional tendencies,
visual and auditory defciencies, and faulty reading habits (Smith, 2002, 240).
During this time period, research began to focus on fnding the cause of reading
difculties, and this was called the Medical Model of reading diagnosis (Klenk
&Kibby, 2000, p. 4).
Grace M. Fernald continues her research in the kinesthetic method, where a child
would trace a word that had been written, said the word in parts, and continued
until he could reproduce the word without looking at the original (Smith, 2002, p.
240).
In the late 1920s, Intelligent tests, such as the Stanford-Binet Test, made it clear
that children who were failing in reading had intellectual abilities that far
surpassed their reading abilities, many having above average IQ scores (Klenk
&Kibby, 2000, p. 3).

The term remedial reading replaced inferiority in

reading, reading disability, and reading defciency
(Smith, 2002, p. 180).

1925-1935
(General
Overview)
1923-1924

William S. Grays Remedial Cases in Reading: Their Diagnosis and Treatment and Arthur I
Gates The Psychology of Reading and Spelling: With Special Reference to Disability were
published. These articles were the frst to help develop diagnostic and remedial techniques
to readers with disability in reading (Smith, 2002, p. 180).
Gray defned a remedial case as follows: inadequate language habits, lack of general
experience, little or no interest in reading, careless, indiferent attitude, inadequate
attention to content, difculties in the mechanics of reading, inefective rates of reading, an
inadequate meaning vocabulary, failure to think independently about the content, inability
to picture unfamiliar situations, poor home environment, distracting social infuences,
inadequate parental supervision, or inadequate or inappropriate reading materials and poor
instruction (Sears, 2009, p. 8).

1922

Clarence T. Gray published the frst book on remedial reading, called Defciencies in Reading
Ability: Their Diagnosis and Treatment (Smith, 2002, p. 180).

READING DISABILITIES, IDENTIFIED AND DEFINED ACROSS TIME (1896-1962)

1925

Physician Samuel T. Orton proposed a new theory of

cerebral dominance, where reading defciency was caused
by left or mixed laterality (hand, eye, or foot). Orton also
added the word strephosymbolia, or twisted symbols to
remedial reading vocabulary (Smith, 2002, p. 240). Ortons
optical reversibility theory of dyslexia meant that people
with this disability perceive letters and words as reversed
forms (Vellutino, Fletcher, Snowling, & Scanlon, 2004, p. 8).

1931

William S. Gray points out that there is still much more that we can
learn about teaching reading when he says, The next decade should
witness much wider use of scientifc procedures in the study of
problems relating to methods of teaching reading (Gray, 1931, p.
260).

1932

Marion Monroes Children Who Cannot Read contained

evidence to the efect that reading disability might be due
to any of several causes (Smith, 2002, p. 281).

READING DISABILITIES, IDENTIFIED AND DEFINED ACROSS TIME (1896-1962)

 The American Optical Company

produces the opthalmagrpah,
which makes photographic
reproductions of eyemovements (Smith, 2002, p.
282).
There was an increased interest in reading disability throughout this time. The multiplecausation theory of reading disability was developed during this time. Researchers began to
understand that looked deeper into the physiological and psychological causes of reading
disability. Topics of research included personality factors in reading, reading and the
emotions, play therapy psychiatric insights into reading difculties, and psychological
treatment for reading disability. Summaries of investigations, articles in educational journals,
and new professional books about reading disability emerged (Smith, 2002, p. 281).
A deeper look at the time from two quotations on reading disabilities from The Elementary
School Journal (1935): "A teacher should not be discouraged if she is not able to teach every
child to learn to read in keeping with his ability. The amount of exact knowledge about how
and why a person learns is not yet sufcient to enable us to devise reading techniques which
will be best for ever child. The situation is further complicated by the physical, social, and
emotional factors which are always playing on every pupil (Rosebrook, 1935, p. 278).
Administrators and teachers must become aware of the possible combinations of conditions
and circumstances that are operating all the time to interfere with maximum progress, not
only in reading, but in all academic subjects (Rosebrook, 1935, p. 279).

Miles Tinker reports that 180 studies of remedial reading

had been conducted by this time. (Smith, 2002, p. 240).

1935
1935-1950
(General
Overview)
1934

READING DISABILITIES, IDENTIFIED AND DEFINED ACROSS TIME (1896-1962)

1937

The Thirty-Sixth Yearbook, Part I shows the importance of reading clinics at this time: The
tendency to establish reading clinics for intensive study of serious cases of reading disability
is one of the newer developments associated with the improved supervision of reading The
clinics were established for psychological studies and education studies in schools (Smith,
2002, p. 283).
*A deeper look into a reading clinic: Western Reserve University established such a reading
clinic in 1929. The clinic was composed of a physician, an oculist, a psychologist, a reading
specialist, a psychiatrist, two social workers, a classroom teacher, and the director of the
clinic. As you can see there were a variety of professions within the clinic staf. The work of
the clinic staf was to discover any and every possible cause for the reading disability of each
child at the clinic (Clowes, 1930, p. 261). A physical exam, an eye exam, a psychological
test (Binet-Simon), a handedness text using grip test, an ocular dominance test, Gates
Primare Reading Tests, Marion Monroes Diagnosis of Special Difculty in Reading Test, and
many other observations were given at the clinic (Clowes, 1930, p. 262-264). Diagnosis and
recommended remedial work was given to each child at this particular clinic.
Marion Monroe said that 1937 was the year that reading disabilities could be attributed to
more than one cause due to the new research of this time (Sears, 2007, p. 13).

1940

Gray defnes remedial reading at this

time as corrective work undertaken
by schools with groups of individuals
who are retarded in reading (Smith,
2002, 283).

1941

Betts puts out his telebinocular, which

was designed to indicate defects in
vision (Smith, 2002, p. 282). Defects
in vision are now able to be seen as a
cause of reading difculty.

READING DISABILITIES, IDENTIFIED AND DEFINED ACROSS TIME (1896-1962)

 It became obvious that the medical model of reading diagnosis to fnd the cause of reading difculty
moved to the intensive instructional intervention model, which was a process of gaining a thorough
knowledge of a persons reading performance, strategies, skills, and instructional needs through
accurate observations for the purpose of modifying instruction (Klenk &Kibby, 2000, p. 4).
Several books are published about reading disability as a whole, about treating one specialized aspect
of reading disability, and about one particular theory of causation of reading disability during this time.
Some examples include Galdys Natchezs Reading Disability: Diagnosis and Treatment, Beulah Kantor
Ephrons Reading and the Emotions, and John Moneys Reading Disability: Progress and Research
Needs in Dyslexia. In addition, this period saw an increase in research in reading disabilities in
disciplines other than teaching, including sociology, psychology, physiology, and medicine. In addition,
A strong new trend of this period was the proposal of several theories concerning the diagnosis and
remediation of reading disability cases. (Smith, 380). This was the frst time that medication became
involved in treating reading disabilities. More clinics were established for improving reading ability in
public school systems and at universities. The purpose of these clinics was to conduct diagnoses and
give instruction in remedial and developmental reading (Smith, 2002, p. 383).

1950s-early
1960s
(General
Overview)
1943

Grace M. Fernalds Remedial Techniques in Basic School Subjects

described the kinesthetic method in detail, and gained much
attention from clinicians and teachers, who used the method to
teach students with reading difculties (Smith, 2002, p. 283).

1946

Helen Robinsons Why Pupils Fail in Reading was a fve-year study,

including 30 remedial cases and a large group of specialists. The
study concluded that the opinion of several experts in the feld is
necessary for diagnosis and that a large proportion of children who
are considered unreachable may learn to read when adequate
diagnosis and remedial steps are taken (Smith, 2002, p. 282).

READING DISABILITIES, IDENTIFIED AND DEFINED ACROSS TIME (1896-1962)

10

 Reading Disability: Progress and Research Needs in Dyslexia is

published by a group of males in the medical profession. The term
dyslexia in this book means a defect in reading (Smith, 2002, p.
381). The following quotation about dyslexia comes from the book
and explains the multiple-causation theory of reading disability:
Dyslexia has no single cause. Poor hearing and seeing may be
implicated, or low intelligence. Early brain damage may hinder the
learning of reading, and brain injury in adults may cause even
complete loss of reading skill. Dyslexia may also be due to a
congenital, perhaps familial, specifc disability which is sometimes
given the name of word blindness (Smith, 2002, p. 382).

Dr. Orton continued his research on the role of the hemispheric

dominance and his theories were transformed into the OrontGillingham method of teaching phonics (Klenk &Kibby, 2000, p. 4).

1962
1960

READING DISABILITIES, IDENTIFIED AND DEFINED ACROSS TIME (1896-1962)

11

READING DISABILITIES, IDENTIFIED AND DEFINED ACROSS TIME (1896-1962)

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References:

American Psychological Association, No authorship indicated. (1939) Presidents of the Association: Augusta F. Bronner, Ph. D: 193132. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 9 (1), 247-248. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.proxyremote.galib.uga.edu/eds/detail?vid=38&sid=74b95662-a091-4e7d-87929c1475dbfdb4%40sessionmgr4005&hid=4211&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#db=pdh&AN=2013-38915-022

Clowes, H. C. (1930). A reading clinic. Educational Research Bulletin, 9(10), 261-268.

Gray, W. S. (1931). Reading. Review of Educational Research, 1(4), 247-260.

Jolly, J. (2007). The research legacy of Leta S. Hollingsworth. Gifted Child Today. 30(3), 57-64.

Klenk, L. & Kibby, M.W,. (2000). Remediating reading difficulties: Appraising the past, reconciling the present, construction the
future. In M.L. Kamil, P.B. Mosenthal, P.D. Pearson, & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol.3, pp.667-690). Mahwah,
NJ: Erlbaum, Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/teacherline/courses/rdla150/docs/c1s3_9remediating.pdf
Rosebrook, Wilda. (1935). Preventing Reading Deficiency. The Elementary School Journal, 36 (4), 276-280. Retrieved from

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Sears, L. A. (n.d.) A short history of the United States reading research and instruction: 1900 2006 retrieved April 18, 2009 from
http://www.historyliteracy.org/publications.html
Smith, N. B. (2002). American reading instruction (Special ed.). Newark, Del.: International Reading Association.

Vellutino, F., Fletcher, J., Snowling, R. & Scanlon, D. (2004). Specific reading disability (dyslexia): What have we learned in the past
four decades? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45 (1), 2-40. Retrieved from
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